CHAPTER 15 — "THE FIRST CRACK IN THE MASK"
The morning after the botanical garden, Lena walked into her café job humming under her breath — something between a love song and a nervous breakdown.
Her whole body felt lighter, but unstable, like a bridge with missing planks.
Elias had chosen her.
Not carefully.
Not reluctantly.
But **honestly**.
And honesty was terrifying.
Every time she thought of last night — his forehead pressed to hers, his voice rough with fear and desire — she had to stop herself from smiling like an idiot.
Her coworker, Tessa, peeked at her over the espresso machine.
"You're glowing," she said. "Who's the guy?"
Lena froze.
"Oh— uh— no one. I just slept well."
Tessa snorted. "Right. That explains why you nearly steamed your own hand off."
Lena flushed.
She *was* trembling.
This wasn't sustainable.
Something had to give.
---
## **Elias Loses His Grip (Just a Little)**
At the university, Elias was pretending.
Badly.
He sat through a faculty meeting without hearing a word.
His notes were sloppy.
He sipped the same cup of cold coffee for an hour without realizing it.
He kept touching his mouth.
No one seemed to notice… until Maya arrived.
She slid into the empty chair next to him and whispered, too softly for anyone else:
"What's wrong with you today?"
He stiffened. "Nothing."
Maya leaned closer.
"Elias. You're jumpy. Distracted. And you're smiling at your notebook like it's flirting with you."
He snapped it shut.
"Maya. Drop it."
She blinked.
"Whoa. Okay."
She'd never seen him this tense.
And she knew him too well not to sense a story.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Did something happen with Lena?"
Elias froze.
It was subtle — a split-second tightening around his eyes — but Maya caught it.
"Oh my god," she whispered. "It did."
"Maya. Stop."
But she didn't.
"How bad is it?"
His jaw clenched.
He was silent.
And that silence answered everything.
---
## **The Mask Slips — Publicly**
Later that afternoon, Lena stopped by campus to deliver paperwork for her summer job.
She knew Elias might be around — and the idea made her stomach twist in anticipation — but she wasn't expecting to see him immediately.
He was walking down the hall, talking with two other professors.
He looked tired, but sharper, calmer — until he saw her.
The moment their eyes met, his entire expression softened.
It was tiny.
Barely a flicker.
But it was **real**.
And unfortunately… someone else saw it too.
A student passing behind her whispered to her friend:
"Isn't that Professor Hale? He never smiles like that."
Lena's blood ran cold.
Elias must've heard — or at least sensed — because he quickly forced his expression back to neutral. He nodded stiffly to his colleagues and excused himself.
Then, without touching her — without even stepping close — he said quietly:
"Follow me."
She obeyed.
---
## **Behind His Office Door**
As soon as the door clicked shut, Elias pressed both hands against it and exhaled like he'd been holding his breath since the hallway.
"That," he said tightly, "can't happen again."
Her stomach dropped. "You mean—"
"The way I looked at you."
He ran a hand through his hair, pacing.
"The way I stopped thinking. The way I *felt*."
She swallowed hard. "I didn't do anything."
"I know," he said quickly. "This isn't your fault. It's mine. I should be in control of myself."
Lena stepped closer.
"You're human."
"I'm your mentor," he countered. "I'm supposed to be the calm one. And the moment I saw you, I— I forgot every rule I've been clinging to."
She brushed her fingers across his arm — a soft, grounding touch.
"Maybe that's not a bad thing."
He stopped moving.
His breath hitched.
"Lena," he whispered, "I almost reached for you. In public."
Her heart tripped.
"And I almost let you," she whispered back.
They stared at each other — the space between them charged, dangerous, magnetic.
He spoke first, voice rough.
"I'm terrified of hurting you."
"You're not."
"And I'm terrified of losing you."
"You won't."
"And I'm terrified," he finished quietly, "of what I'm turning into around you."
She stepped closer, until their bodies were inches apart.
"You're turning into someone honest," she said.
"Someone who wants me without pretending he doesn't."
His breath shuddered.
Then he whispered:
"I do want you."
She felt the confession ripple through her like heat.
He continued, voice low and breaking:
"And it's getting harder not to show it."
---
## **Maya Walks In**
A sudden knock jolted them apart.
"Elias?"
Maya's voice.
He swore under his breath.
Lena stepped back so fast she bumped into a chair.
Elias cleared his throat. "One moment!"
He turned to Lena, eyes wide, panicked.
She gave him a tiny nod — she'd slip out the side door.
He opened the main door.
Maya stood there, arms folded.
"You disappeared in the middle of the discussion—oh."
Her eyes slid past him and landed on Lena.
Her expression changed instantly.
"Lena. Interesting timing."
Lena forced a polite smile. "I was just dropping off paperwork."
Maya didn't blink.
Didn't smile.
She was putting pieces together — and she didn't like the picture.
"Well," she said coolly, "I hope your paperwork doesn't cause any… complications."
Elias stiffened.
"Maya," he warned.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Relax. I'm just saying she should be careful. People talk."
Lena felt heat rise to her cheeks — shame, anger, fear, all tangled.
Maya's gaze sharpened.
"Especially when a certain professor can't hide how he looks at certain students."
Elias went pale.
Lena felt her chest tighten painfully.
And Maya smiled — not kindly, but knowingly.
This was no longer just tension.
No longer just a secret.
Maya had noticed.
And she wasn't going to let it go.